Means for controlling the shifting action of moving water on land



(No Model.)

AGf. H. HENSHAW. MEANS FOR GONTROLLING THE SHIPTING ACTION 0F MOVING WATER w f .su f /fm m. i. 1..

ATTORNEY N PETERS. Pump-Umagnplmr, wnshingwmn. C.

" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEC GEORGE Il. HENSI'IATV, OF BROOKLYN, NETV YORK.

MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE SHIFTING ACTION F MOVING WATER 0N LAND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 419,121, dated January 7, 1890.

Application filed October 22, 1888. Serial No. 288,806. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. HENSHAW, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Means for Controlling thc Shifting Action of Moving Water on Land, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is in the nature of a' means for controlling the shifting action of running or turbulent water on land, by which riverchannels may be formed and preserved, bars oif the mouths of deltas removed and the channels through deltas deepened and preserved, sea-beaches repaired and protected from erosion, shifting Shoals fixed, and estuary lands reclaimed. Heretoforc it has been attempted to accomplish these results by obstructing the movement of the Water outside the portion of land or bottom to be protected. Thus, in deepening river and delta channels, stone jetties, mattress-Work, and other rigid and unyielding structures have been arranged along the sides of the channel with the inten` tion of confining the current and causing it to scour out and deepen the channel. In some cases these obstructions have been made slightly permeable, With the hope of catching some of the matter suspended in the moving Water, and thus preventing its deposition in otherA and undesirable places; but in every case the obstructions have been unyielding to resist the force of the Water and compel it to take the required course. This rigid resistance develops an eddy-like reactive force, Which is much greatest alongside the obstructions, and thus causes the rapid undermining of the obstructions and the formation of the channel so close thereto as to be dangerous to navigation, While no provision is made for the suspended matter, thegreater part of which is carried along WithA the current and deposited in dilerent places as .the height of the water varies.

My improved means for controlling the action of the Water so as to obtain. the desired results consist, in general, of an articiallyconstructed iiexible and permeable submarine barrier anchored upon bottom outside the part to be protected, as hereinafter fully set forth.

To the end that my invention may be fully understood, I will first describe in detail `the mode in which the same may be carried into effect, and then point out its distinctive features in the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of the specification, in Which- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan View representing my improved means for controlling the shifting action of moving water applied to the preservation and deepening of two adjacent river-channels. Figs. 2, 3, Li, and 5 are detail views of devices, hereinafter referred to, forming part of said means.

Like letters of reference designate corresponding parts in the different iigures.

A A designate the opposite banks of river, and B B two natural channels therein to be preserved and deepened. To eiect this l anchor subm arinebarriers D, formed, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, of a rigidly-constructed base E and a iiexible permeable fence F, attached to and rising from the base upon the bottom along opposite sides of each of the channels B B about in line With the direc tion of the current, as shown, the height of the barriers being made about one-third the depth of the Water Where they are anchored.

Each barrier D is by preference formed of a longitudinal body composed of a number of independent sections D of uniform height, as that illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, and of a series of Wings D2, projecting outward from the body and inclined With the current, each Wing D2, as Well as the downstream end section of the body, vanishing in height toward its outer end, according to the desired slope of the sides of the channel-bottom.

The base of each bodysection D and wingsection D2 is, as clearly shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, formed of longitudinal Wooden stringers ll, rigidly connected by Wooden crossbeams I, and along the top and bottom of the latter are strung inner and outer pairs, respectively, of stout Wire J J with which are securely entwined Willows or other light straight brush, the upper parts of which are interlaced diagonally, so as to form the permeable and iiexible net-Work fence F length- Wise of the base.

The bases of the several sections D D2 are IOO Vjoined together by flexible ties L, Fig. 4, so

that the base'E of the Whole barrier can conform to the general shape of the bottom.

It is preferred to anchor the barriers D on `bottom by placing slabs of clay upon the base, as indicated in Figs. 3, 4, and 5.

The Wings D2 at the upper ends of the shorebarriers D are shown in Fig. l continued to Y the shore and protected from undermining by mattress-Work M at the foot, while the inclined Wings D2 at the heads of the inidurally by 'the depsit produced and retained by the permeable barriers, and as there is he obstruction there is no reaction to disturb the deposit.

lf the 'deepening of the channel produced by one set of barriers is not sufficient when such barriers have been silted up, other sets ofrbarrie'r's may be 'then placed 'directly above the first to continue the process until the desii-'ed depth is attained.

In applying this means to fixing shifting shoals, preserving sea-beaches, reclaiming estuary lands, and the like, the same general arrangement of anchored flexible and permeable submarine barriers is employed, modied according to the various conditions met with.

l am aware that it has been attempted heretofore to improve Water-ways by placing permeable dams of brush and of separate trees `and clumps of brush anchoredlto the bottom at the sides of the Water-Way,`soas to divert or contract the channel through the accumulation ofsedime'nt in and around the permeable dams; but., owing to the irregular structure and partial resistance to the current of these brush dams and the oscillation of the dams nia-de up of the separate trees or clumps, 'the erosion is irregular, variable, and usually destructive. y

I 'claim as new and desire to secure by Let* ters Patent- In means for protecting land against water erosion,- 'an upright flexible ieti'cul-'ated fenceJ of regular structure rigidly secured along its fOOt T10 fI'lQ-Wlk Das@ illd 1113011,

so as to cover, the land or bottoni to be fixed,

Substantially as described.

e GEORGE H. HEN'SHAW.

NVitn'esse's:

Winn-'IAM STPHEN, CLARENCE L. BURGER. 

